Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stock Position in Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum Co. (NYSE:MPC - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,673 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 27,143 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Marathon Petroleum were worth $17,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,600,000. Horizon Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,803,951 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $670,151,000 after purchasing an additional 315,786 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $395,000. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Petroleum by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 38,572 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $5,381,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MPC shares. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Marathon Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Marathon Petroleum from $182.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $168.00 to $159.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Marathon Petroleum from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Marathon Petroleum from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.27.

Marathon Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MPC traded up $2.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $150.07. 3,007,752 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,829,086. The firm has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.41. Marathon Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $130.54 and a fifty-two week high of $221.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.94.

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.71. Marathon Petroleum had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $33.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Marathon Petroleum Co. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Marathon Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.66%.

Marathon Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 10% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marathon Petroleum news, Director Jeffrey C. Campbell bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $149.61 per share, with a total value of $897,660.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,090 shares in the company, valued at $911,124.90. This trade represents a 6,666.67 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated downstream energy company primarily in the United States. The company operates through Refining & Marketing, and Midstream segments. The Refining & Marketing segment refines crude oil and other feedstocks at its refineries in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions of the United States; and purchases refined products and ethanol for resale and distributes refined products, including renewable diesel, through transportation, storage, distribution, and marketing services.